Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $314.09.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMGN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Amgen from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Amgen from $310.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Amgen in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their target price on Amgen from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMGN opened at $310.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $281.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.73. Amgen has a 1-year low of $253.30 and a 1-year high of $346.85. The company has a market cap of $166.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The medical research company reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.04 by $0.27. Amgen had a return on equity of 176.32% and a net margin of 12.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen will post 20.62 EPS for the current year.

Amgen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $2.38 per share. This represents a $9.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Amgen’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 126.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amgen news, EVP David M. Reese sold 25,225 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.44, for a total value of $7,679,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,240,533.68. The trade was a 40.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 1,589 shares of Amgen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.47, for a total value of $483,802.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,195,228.70. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,341 shares of company stock worth $20,644,335. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amgen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Amgen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Amgen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Amgen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its position in Amgen by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.50% of the company’s stock.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.